Is there any argument to be made that Francisco actually has more power than Ibanez or Utley? Or Werth?

Well, not if you look at their career numbers. The table below shows, for each of the four, their isolated power calculated in two different ways, the percentage of their hits that have gone for extra-bases and the percentage of their plate appearances in which they have delivered an extra-base hit. The first isolated power column is just career slugging minus career batting average. The second isolated power column uses the formula (2B + 3B + (HR*3))/AB (which treats doubles and triples the same).

ISO (SLG-BA) ISO (formula) % of H XBH % of PA XBH
Ibanez .192 .185 37.3 9.5
Utley .221 .213 40.4 10.2
Francisco .183 .181 41.7 9.8
Werth .209 .204 39.9 9.3

So no, there’s not much of a case for Francisco as a hitter with more power than any of those guys over their careers. He has seen a higher percentage of his hits go for extra-bases than the others in the group, but lags behind everyone pretty much everywhere else except that the percentage of his plate appearances in which he delivered an extra-base hit is higher than Werth or Ibanez.

In trying to make sense of the numbers above, it’s important to understand that the extra-base hits delivered by Francisco aren’t as good as the extra-base hits delivered by the other three players. The extra-base hits by the other three guys, on average, went for more bases. Here’s the career rates of total bases for extra-base hits for the four:

TB per XBH
Werth 2.93
Utley 2.86
Ibanez 2.82
Francisco 2.66

There’s a different story, though, if you look at the numbers from last year. Unfortunately, that might say more about what was wrong with Ibanez and Utley in 2010 than what it does about what was right with Francisco. There’s no case to be made that Francisco has more power than Werth, so he’s dropped from the table below, which now includes the numbers for Ibanez, Utley and Francisco from 2010 and Francisco for his career.

ISO (SLG-BA) ISO (formula) % of H XBH % of PA XBH
Ibanez ’10 .160 .169 37.7 9.1
Utley ’10 .165 .170 32.5 7.4
Francisco ’10 .173 .173 39.6 9.6
Francisco Career .183 .181 41.7 9.8

So that might be good for Francisco, if his goal is to have about the same power as Ibanez or Utley, but it’s real bad news for the Phils given how far off the power numbers were for Ibanez and Utley in 2010 compared to the rest of their careers. Francisco’s numbers were off his career levels, but still good enough to top both Ibanez and Utley.

The Phillies claimed right-handed pitcher Brian Schlitter and designated Andrew Carpenter for assignment. Schlitter turns 26 in December and threw eight innings for the Cubs in 2010 in his first major league action. In 190 innings in the minor leagues, Schlitter has walked 75. It’s a devastating blow to the theory that Amaro’s plan for world domination is all about preventing walks. Carpenter made five appearances with the Phillies over the past three seasons and was hit hard in 9 2/3 innings. He threw to a 4.05 ERA with a 1.36 ratio in 27 starts at Triple-A in 2010.

This says that John Mayberry will spend some time at first base this spring and Wilson Valdez some time in the outfield.

This says that the Phillies are willing to offer pitcher John Maine a minor league deal and suggests that Maine will decide what he wants to do in the next couple of days.

This says that Bastardo has still not thrown off a mound yet and now has been dealing with an illness as well as elbow issues from this winter.